Snapshot
by not-quite-legit
Summary: For every picture, every moment in time, there are a thousand words that can be spoken. A collection of short drabbles.
1. Still

Hey guys! This is the first of a few drabbles I'm going to be writing to try and cure some boredom. I'm trying to balance high school and college at the same time, and it gets _really _stressful at times. I figured that maybe having a project like this that's something to focus on but not too serious would help me out some.

If you have a character, pairing, pokemon, etc., you want to see written, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll see what I can do. I can also write for OCs, too, but please don't overload me with that stuff.

Oh, yeah, and most of the stuff I write will be game-verse, but if I write anything else I'll be sure to specify that in the beginning.

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><p>Still<p>

Of all the places he's ever vacationed, Volkner thinks that Undella during the winter months is one of his favorites. The very thought itself is a paradox that makes the corners of his mouth twitch up into a smile. The polar opposite of the summer tourist destination, Undella Town during December is a peaceful place. Occasionally a few snowflakes will drift down from the sky during this time of year, but otherwise the weather is simply clear and cold, and because of it Undella is like a ghost town. Undella is the exception to the rule in Unova- it hardly ever rains, hardly ever snows. Just sunny or cloudy, hot or cold, all year long. Volkner likes this simplicity. He likes the emptiness in the atmosphere that, while not as comforting as just being at home, does not force him to think loudly enough to where he can hear himself over the constant whirs and buzzes assailing his ears back home at the gym.

_The pokemon seem to enjoy it, too,_ he thinks. He is leaned against the misplaced Greek-revival style pillar at the entrance of the hotel he's staying at, blue military jacket wrapped tightly about his shoulders to ward off the cold, watching Raichu and Luxray engage in a quite literal game of cat-and-mouse. They seem thrilled to have the chance to actually _play_ instead of train, and even more thrilled to see that for once in his life Volkner is not moping. He actually laughs when he sees Luxray kick sand into Raichu's face and Raichu respond with a few angry sparks. It's late, maybe eleven o' clock, and the air is still. A heavy chill constantly rolls in off of the coast, but Volkner and his pokemon are used to it. Raichu and Luxray are so into their game that they do not notice the first few snowflakes falling.

Volkner thinks it's a beautiful sight, all of the snowflakes suddenly drifting down from the sky in abundance. Thanks to the moon, he can see fairly far out into Undella Bay, and its light makes the falling snow look like stardust. The two playing pokemon stop momentarily and follow their trainer's gaze out to sea and watch in wonder as the beautiful little things float down from the heavens and disappear into the ocean's dark surface. It's not a heavy snow, though, just a few light, wispy clouds, and within a few minutes they are gone, off towards Lacunosa Town way up north.

Volkner's phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes it out and flips it open, and is met with a picture of his best friend, Flint, grinning obnoxiously like usual, and a few other friends- Roark, Candice, Gardenia and even Jasmine- and a little note below it saying, _Merry Christmas, Mr. Grinch! Wish you were here. -Flint_

Volkner seriously doubts that any of them are having as merry a Christmas as he is.

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><p>Pfffft, that ending xD<p>

Happy Turkey Day, Americans :D and in accordance with American shopping customs I am posting a Christmas fic before Thanksgiving is even over. It doesn't make any sense, but hey.


	2. Teaching

Teaching

"You're not doing it right! Be careful or you'll hurt him!"

The pinkette sighed and rolled her eyes, looking down at her companion slightly. She dropped the net in her hands to the ground and pouted, looking like she was close to tears. "Okay, then, Bugsy. How _should _I try to catch 'im?" she snapped.

"Like this. Just watch me." Bugsy scanned the forest floor with a well-trained eye before spotting a small, green shape moving into a scraggly lump of grass. The sight wasn't all that uncommon in Ilex Forest, actually, but Bugsy felt like being a bit theatrical perhaps to try and show the Goldenrod gym leader up. Bugsy was getting a little tired of her know-it-all city girl attitude, anyway. He moved towards it at a slow, even pace, making sure not to scare it. Then, in contrast to Whitney's violent, rapid downswings, he lowered his grandfather's old "lucky net" down in front of the Caterpie, who crawled into it suspecting nothing. The bug-type panicked a bit when the Azalea gym leader lifted his net off of the ground, but Bugsy quickly took him out of the net and released him, careful to avoid a string shot attack to the face. Whitney huffed in annoyance.

"See? Just like that," he told the older girl. "No need to act like you're trying to hack them up. If that were a Weedle..."

"Okay, I get it," she sighed. "And I'm not trying to hack them up! I just did what I've always seen other people do. I really don't know any better."

Bugsy smirked, but it looked more like an annoying grin to the normal-type trainer. "Why do you think I always win the Bug-Catching contests?"

"Whatever. I guess it's the same as if I tried to teach you how to run a farm. That would probably be a complete disaster like this was."

"Hey," Bugsy reprimanded. "It wasn't a disaster! Let's not be a sore loser, now. You don't have to cry when you lose at _everything."_"

"I do not cry at _everything_!" Whitney snapped, tugging at a fistful of his lavender hair despite the bug trainer's shouts of protest. "It's just how I handle stress!"

"Sure, and I'm secretly a girl," Bugsy scoffed. Whitney chuckled a little at that statement.

"...I wouldn't doubt it, Bugsy."

* * *

><p>So I always thought Bugsy was a girl when I was little. XD<p>

At dinner tonight, something reminded me of my grandpa. I don't know what happened or why, but I had this memory of him teaching me how to catch bugs when I visited him in Georgia one year. He used to be an entymologist.

Anyway, that memory made me think of Bugsy, and how funny it would be to see him trying to teach preppy little Whitney how to catch bugs. I can see there being a hint of whatever-you-would-call-this-shipping-someone-please-enlighten-me, but I really just think of them as being like brother and sister who are polar opposites, like me and my little brother. 8D


	3. Stupid

Stupid

"Hey! Hey Volkner! Heyyy! Volkner! VOLKNER!"

The blond in question stared blankly out the window at his friend one story below. "Flint... stop yelling through the window and just come knock on the door. We're not sixteen, damn it."

"Oh." The fire elite just kind of stared at him for a second before apparently remembering what he was going to say. "Oh yeah! I had something to tell you! I'll be right up!"

Volkner could hear the blond stomping his way up the stairwell to the apartment and feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. Okay, maybe it wasn't really that bad and he was just being dramatic, but the fact that his best friend had practically kicked his front door open and marched right in like he owned the place annoyed him a little. It also reminded him to lock his door from now on, for he did not want any surprise visits from Flint.

"So, Volkner, I had something to tell you," Flint said, flopping down on Volkner's horribly mismatched maroon couch. Volkner rolled his eyes, laughing inwardly. A weekend without the redhead's stupid antics to laugh at would be a sad one indeed.

"What is it?" he asked. "Flint, please keep your feet off my coffee table."

"Oh, sorry." Flint propped his feet up on the armrest of the sofa instead. "So Volk, you know that kid Red way over in Kanto?"

It took Volkner a moment to remember who the redhead was talking about, but then he recalled an article form the _Sinnoh Chronicle_ just a few days prior. Yesterday would be mark the boy's third year living at the top of Mt. Silver with no one but his pokemon. The article also said that he was the former champion of Kanto, and that his reign lasted only a month before he renounced his title and all but vanished. It mentioned in passing that he had only had three or four visitors over the years, and... _Oh God._

"So I was thinking I should go and visit him," Flint said. He wasn't joking or anything- his face was totally straight. Volkner sighed and pinched his forehead.

"Flint, he'd probably shoot you or something. What would you be doing there anyway, taking him a Happy Meal? And besides, don't tell me you don't remember getting lost on Mount Coronet for two weeks."

"That wasn't my fault," Flint pouted. "And why would he have a gun anyways? He's a kid. I'm pretty sure that's hella illegal in Kanto. "

"Technically he's in Johto," Volkner said dryly. Flint just flipped him off.

"Well, whatever, man. I'll take Roark with me. He thinks it's a cool idea and we'll go and have a great time in Kanto _without you._"

"Call him," Volkner said.

"What?"

"I said _call him. _I want to see how full of crap you are, Flint."

"I can't. My phone's dead," Flint lied, sticking his tongue out. Volkner just shrugged and dialed Roark's number on his own cell. He made sure to dial the number as slowly as possible and put the phone on speaker just to annoy his best friend. It rang a few times before a tired-sounding Roark picked up.

"Hey, Volkner," he greeted. The Sunyshore gym leader could hear his father going on about dirt or roacks or something in the background and cringed inwardly.

"Hey. I had a quick question to ask you."

"Shoot. Anything to get me out of here; dad's being really annoying."

"If Flint asked you to go to Kanto with him, would you?"

Roark paused for a moment. "Why? We'd probably get shot or something. Of course not."

Volkner promptly hung up the phone and glanced over at the redhead on his couch, who was shouting about guns being illegal in Kanto.

"Roark's word stands. You are not going to Kanto. You'll get shot."

"What are you, my mom?"

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><p>I love these two. This didn't come out as good as I thought it would, but it's still cute, I think. I can see it being IgnitionShipping or just friendship, but they kind of strike me as the kind of best friends that hinge on being gay for each other or something. xD<p>

I pulled the names 'Flint' and 'Red'out of a fishbowl and had no idea how to correlate them, so I flipped open the dictionary and the word 'guns' caught my eye. So yeah. xD


	4. Cold

Cold

Eusine hates cold nights.

They aren't all that uncommon in Johto, especially if you're traveling or camping near a large body of water, but Eusine hates them nonetheless. The icy breezes that roll through his campsite and chill him to the bone are simply the worst; they remind him that he is alone in his struggle. This sensation is an odd mix of frustration and satisfaction that he doesn't quite understand himself, though, but he supposes that it comforts him because he knows that he has no competition.

Haunter, Electrode and Drowzee aren't exactly much help. The three prefer to stay in their pokeballs on cold nights like this one, leaving their trainer alone in his tent with only a meager sleeping bag meant for summer and his usual clothes shielding him from the cold. It must be around two in the morning, he supposes, and he can't help but think about the fact that they had had _no leads whatsoever _in the past month on their quarry's was just days and days of walking, eating and camping and being cold. A man living on the shore of the Lake of Rage had warned him earlier that day that they were expecting snow, but he didn't care. What if Suicune showed up there that night and he wasn't there to witness it?

Even Morty, his best friend since childhood, tells him that his efforts are in vain, that he is chasing a ghost.

"Trying to capture the wind is pointless," he tells Eusine, but Eusine just gives him the finger and continues on his journey. Every time they leave Ecruteak, his pokemon seem less and less eager.

Just as the man said, snow begins to fall, but thankfully it is very light. Eusine puts an extra pair of socks on and eventually catches a few hours of fragmented sleep. The ground is hard and cold and he is frustrated and hungry, but to give up would not earn him any recognition from Suicune. He braves the cold like he always does, and he thinks to himself that this makes him a warrior. It's a fitting title for someone who is destined to tame the north wind.

He wakes up as soon as the first light of dawn becomes apparent on the side of his tent, and he tells the sun to go someplace as he tries in vain to get a few more minutes of sleep. It doesn't work, though his stomach reminds him that he hasn't eaten and that his pokemon are probably hungry too. So he forces himself out of the tent and lets his companions out of their pokeballs to finish off the last of the dehydrated food that he bought for the week. Eusine thinks he probably needs a shave, too, but snickers at the thought of wandering into Mahogany Town looking like a well-dressed Sasquatch and opts to just pack up his stuff and continue walking. When they reach town, Eusine takes a slightly-crumpled envelope from his bag and slips it into the mailbox outside of the rustic little general store as he enters.

_Dear Morty,_

_I'm passing through Mahogany Town again. Still no sign of Suicune, unfortunately. It's damn cold here and my hands are so frozen I can barely write this. Oh well. Maybe I'll send you a souvenir from here next time I write, a little wooden Gyarados or something. Or one of those candy bars. _

_I'm still chasing the wind._

_~E_

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><p>I was reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets earlier today, and I was reminded of Eusine. I can see him being a lot like Gilderoy Lockheart... maybe it's the way they dress. xD I do kind of think of Eusine as being narcissistic and self-important, though.<p>

Don't know where this came from, really. But w/e 8D


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